Afghan presidential candidate survives attack

Six people were killed and 22 others wounded here Friday in a car-
bomb attack targeting presidential front-runner Abdullah Abdullah,
who escaped unharmed, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.
The assassination attempt occurred shortly before 12:30 p.m. as
the candidate's motorcade was rolling through Kabul after a
campaign event.
One of the fatalities was an Abdullah bodyguard, another was a
traffic cop and the rest of the victims were most likely civilians,
Deputy Interior Minister Ayub Salangi said on Twitter.
Abdullah, who is favored to win the June 14 presidential runoff,
gave assurances later on Tolo television that he had not been hurt.
One suicide bomber attacked the motorcade with a car bomb while
another on foot blew up his vest packed with explosives, police
spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told Efe.
A Toyota vehicle crashed into Abdullah's armored car, exploded
and destroyed it, to be immediately followed by the second
bombing, the spokesman said
The explosions shattered windows of buildings around the area
including the Ariana Hotel, where Abdullah has his campaign
headquarters.
Outgoing President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah's opponent in the
runoff, Ashraf Ghani, condemned the attack.
On Monday the Taliban posted a communique on its Web site
threatening everyone who goes to the polls for the June 14 ballot.
Security has been strengthened throughout the country and
particularly in Kabul so the voting can go off unhindered, an effort
praised by Afghanistan's allies who admired the high turnout for
the first round of voting despite threats by the Taliban.